Some quiet days near Mira

So I have been negligent in reporting on our activity for a couple of reasons.  The first is that we took a day almost entirely as “downtime”  As Usual,  I woke quite early and headed off into the woods.  I was determined that this time I would locate the corn mills that ran on the water of one of the little rivers here in Mira.  As it turns out that mill was about 3 km into the woods from the house here in Mira. 

Returning to the house,  I enjoyed a great breakfast and talked with our hosts.  When Becky woke up,  we both sought out a quiet place to hole up with our novels and simply relax.  At lunchtime, Silverio lit up the barbeque, this time loading the grill with fresh fish from the ocean.  It was a feast fit for a king.  In the way of much of Portuguese cooking,  the small fish needed to be picked up and eaten with the fingers.  The larger “red fish”  was more conducive to using a fork. 

After finishing our lunch,  Becky and I made the 7km trip to Praia de Mira where the plan was to enjoy – and photograph the sun setting over the beach and what that evening was a very calm Atlantic.  In Praia, we sat down for dinner of Steak and Shrimp before taking up our position to watch the sunset.  Sadly, due to the fires, the vibrant colours of the sunset were rather muted on this night.  Still, it was a lovely way to finish a day.  When the sun had set,  we stopped at a Gelateria for a scoop of ice cream and then returned to the house and turned in early.

The sun setting of the Ocean at Praia de Mira

Another shot of the sunset

In the morning, my walk led me on beyond the Mills another km to find Lagoa de Mira.  This peaceful fresh water lake is hidden completely in the trees, and is one of the area’s best kept secrets.  The locals love to go and swim at this place, because the ocean water is often very cold, but this more shallow lake warms up nicely.  There are small picnic areas set up all around the lake.  I took a few pictures of my newest discovery, and headed back, having walked 8km before breakfast. 

Lagoa de Mira. a 4km walk each way.

The end of my walk for today

By the time I returned, Becky was up and functioning, and so we had coffee and time to read and chat. Silverio and Lourdes were in town for the morning looking after a few matters, and so we enjoyed some quiet time. 

When he returned, Silverio instructed me in how to light the wood-fired water heater.  While doing this I noticed the wookfired stone oven that Lourdes uses to cook bread and other such things.  I have always been fascinated by such things.  

The outer opening of the stone oven

The actual oven itself.

Lunch was made up of Portuguese style roasted chicken and fried potatoes with a huge green salad. It was just the right thing before heading off on another adventure.  At the last moment though, Becky decided that she did not feel up to going on the trip planned that day. 

I had inquired about Eucalyptus Honey that I saw at the Mercado.  Silverio insisted that what was at the market was not good quality.  I needed to visit “the producer”.  It sounded like the ominous title of some Mafioso in a Godfatehr film.  After Lunch,  Joao, Silverio Zinha and I headed off to meet the producer.

Peanuts and Red wine.  Hospitality at its finest everywhere you go.

Once there,  I took the obligatory tour of the gardens.  Here, he added to the usual crops of Nectarines, Peaches, Figs, Olives, grapes, apples and pears, the added bonus of Bananas.  Of course, he insisted that I try all of the fruit from his garden.  We then proceeded into his honey production facility where he told me about the problems that beekeepers in Portugal were experiencing with Asian bees that came and overtook the hives of the native bees.  He showed me one of these enormous bees that he had killed recently.  It was easily three times the size of a regular honey bee.  The gathering in the honey house seemed to require that a huge bag of peanut come out,  and that decanters of his homemade red wine be filled.  It was another great opportunity to meet the real people of Portugal, and to experience the land as its people experience it.  I was sad that becky had chosen to pass on this trip.

In the garden of "the Producer"

When we got home, there was a surprise in the courtyard.  Someone had dropped off a gift of 250 pounds of potatoes and 6 chickens.  The bags containing the chickens lay still next to the potatoes, and I thought that they were dead,  but when we got near,  both bags jumped to life.  It seems that Silverio will not be in the business of raising chickens. 

The story behind this gift was that many years ago when Silverio was an engineer on a fishing vessel,  one of the men on that vessel took a very bad fall.  Silverio championed his cause and insisted that the boat get to Newfoundland as soon as possible.  After a 2 hour brain surgery,  the man recovered.  The family has since felt that they needed to make such offerings of gratitude.

The woman who had delivered the gift returned, and soon there was a great gathering in the courtyard of Silverio’s home.  John and Zinha arrived shortly thereafter and helped to get an appropriate pen for the chickens.  The neighbours came over and asked if Becky and I might come over for a few minutes because they had just cooked a huge pot of clams and wanted to share them with us.  Becky declined the offer, but I was soon enjoying the most incredible fresh clams while watching the horrific news of what had just happened in Barcelona.

A huge pot of clams shared with friends as an afternoon treat.

When the clams were gone,  Joao asked if I would come and help him to feed his livestock.  I think that he expected that I would be frightened to go in to slop a pig, or to gather eggs from under the hens.  He didn’t factor in that I grew up on a farm.  The job was done in short order, and we returned to the house of Silverio.

There,  Lourdes had prepared a dinner of the most delicious rice with Shrimp.  I was not hungry, and neither was Lourdes, and yet both of us managed to eat two dishes.  Those who were hungry managed to do even better. 

Our stomachs filled, we turned in.  This is perhaps the thing that worries me most about this time in Portugal.  The evening meal is served directly before bedtime with no time or effort to burn off the meal.  I don’t want to gain back any of the weight that I have lost.  Hence why each day begins with such a blistering walk.

Today,  we head over to Coimbra to visit Se Nova Catedral, Se Vieho Catedral, Portugal do Pequenirios, the oldest University in Europe, Perredo da Saudade, and Mosteiro e Convento  y Igreja da Rainha Santa Isabel.